We decided to take to the skies with the first issue of 2014 – which also marks the beginning of our second year of publication! We’re featuring four aerospace companies – Sierra Nevada Corp., Virgin Galactic, Reaction Engines and XCOR Aerospace – all working hard to launch a new generation of winged spacecraft to outer space. We’ve also got an extensive article featuring beautiful photos of the Earth’s Auroras.

Our latest issue also goes international with updates on space missions from India, China and Europe, as well as the United States. India and America are heading to Mars, while China has arrived at the Moon, and the ESA is investigating both the Earth and the Universe itself. Actor Abraham Benrubi shares his love of space and science fiction with us. We journey behind the scenes of the 45th Weather Squadron at CCAFS in Florida, and even take a final look at the journey of Comet ISON.

All that – and more – in this issue of RocketSTEM magazine.

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Table of Contents

Cygnus delivers to the ISS

WISE discovers black hole duo merging together

ESA’s Swarm trio monitoring 
our planet’s magnetic shield

Students ace ‘Hole-In-One’ contest at JPL

China lands Yutu rover on the Moon

Stephen Colbert presents honor from NASA to Voyager scientist

Keeping an eye on launch-day weather

NASA’s MAVEN on way to Mars

India’s first Mars probe joins MAVEN in race to Red Planet

NASA Mars spacecraft reveals a more dynamic Red Planet

The Auroras of Planet Earth

Watching Earth’s winds, on a shoestring

A new era of winged spacecraft launching

Virgin Galactic’s SS2 soars during supersonic test flight

Lynx spacecraft to give big boost to space tourism

Lynx spacecraft making big screen debut

Dream Chaser nears piloted tests

Bond’s Skylon to achieve dream of single-stage-to-orbit vehicle

How the Skylon fleet would operate

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! 
No…it’s a spaceplane!

NASA Spinoffs for transportation

Liftoff for ESA’s billion-star surveyor

Ghostly specter haunts ‘coldest place in universe’

Comets are unpredictable beasts

Europa likely off-kilter at one time

Space enthralls Abraham Benrubi

CubeSats: Thinking inside the box, launching into space

‘Witch head’ brews baby stars

RocketSTEM • January 2014 • Vol. 2 No. 1 Issue 5 (ISSN: 2326-0661)  © 2014 All Rights Reserved

We hope you will continue to be inquisitive about this universe we all inhabit. Educators and students may reuse the magazine’s material in their classrooms, however, no commercial use or other reproduction is allowed.

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RocketSTEM Media Foundation is a not-for-profit organization established for the purpose of fostering science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education via the promotion of the wonders of space exploration. If you enjoy this magazine, please consider making a donation to our organization. One-time donations may be made via PayPal on the Donations page of our website.

RocketSTEM Media Foundation is registered with the IRS as a tax-exempt charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. Donations are fully tax deductible as allowed by law.

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